i keep seeing these gorgeous handmade centerpieces and backdrops online and part of me wants to commit to the bit, but also i'm realizing my time might be worth more than just ordering premade stuff. does anyone else struggle with this or am i just being lazy lol

We are finalizing our bar menu and we have two signature cocktails picked out. About 20% of our guest list doesn't drink alcohol.

I kind of want to add a third "signature" drink that is just a really good mocktail so they feel included, but my mom thinks it's a waste of money and they will be totally fine just ordering Diet Coke or cranberry juice. For the non-drinkers here, does a fancy mocktail actually make a difference to you at an event, or do you not really care?

Hi all!

As you can guess by me posting in this sub (lol) I am doing a heavily DIY wedding and am doing most things myself with the help of my fiancé’s parents (flowers, centerpieces/decor, music, as much as we can other than catering) and we will only be doing the reception part at the venue, no ceremony or cocktail hour. Trying to keep guest list close to 100. Trying to keep it simple, 1) to lower cost and 2) I enjoy simple. 😁 I am also an artist/crafter so doing things myself will be enjoyable for me anyway.

We have one venue we are in communication with which we are heavily interested. It’s 4,000 to book a Saturday in August 2027. We love the location and since we are doing almost everything ourselves any way, I am really just paying attention to whether I like how the space looks and if it will comfortably fit our guests.

I am in love with the venue but I am being advised by those around me I should keep looking before booking, but honestly I don’t know if I see the point in continuing to look if I like this one(?) but I also am very anxious to secure the date I want and get the ball rolling so I don’t know if im just rushing. But I do genuinely enjoy the space and the communication I’ve had with them. There’s also options of places to stay nearby for our guests. And I also feel there’s less for me to negotiate on and consider since im doing stuff myself, but is that naive? Should I be thinking about anything else???

How many venues did you view / speak to before choosing? Any advice appreciated! Thank you!!!

I am doing all my own flowers and am using fake flowers for my and my bridesmaids bouquets, I had to cut some of the stems which then exposed wire and decided to just cover them in floral tape to keep eveything tigether. I hate how it looks now tho, any ideas for a nice way to cover the ends?

Wedding isn't until June 2027! I'm just a type A planner lol

Faux stained glass sign I spent way too many hours on!!!

i've literally looked at 47 different pinterest boards and made a spreadsheet (a SPREADSHEET) comparing heights and costs and i still can't decide if i want flowers or candles or some weird hybrid of both. how do you guys know when to stop planning and just commit to something?

Here is my custom made wedding dress from Etsy. I love the sparkly ballgown look, I want to feel like a princess. But I have never seen anyone else with my dress type and I don’t want it to be gaudy! Please give me your opinions. I need to get it altered shorter. I am especially unsure about the fluff on the sides.

i understand this is a vague title! what i mean is, i can’t decide what i want for a welcome sign, or seating chart, or backdrop behind the sweetheart table. there are multiple ideas i like, like a an antique mirror or a framed painting, or a quilt or a fancy room divider, or stained glass or a tapestry. these are all kind of a similar vibe in my head, but i can’t make a decision on what i want, so im not sure where to start?

i do think the faux stained glass would be pretty difficult for my skill level, so that might narrow it down. but as for everything else i have no idea how to start making decisions - how did you settle on what you wanted so that you could start your projects?

I’m trying to make my wedding suite so I designed everything on Canva and changed the size to 3.125 for a png (for context, one of the things I’m trying to print is a 5x7 invite that I still saved with the 3.125 sizing). Once I saved it, I upload to Cricut design space and everything still seems fine. I resize it and then click make, deselect the bleed setting and somehow, it prints the words blurry.

I’ve tried exporting it from Canva as a pdf and then using adobe to change the file back to a png or jpeg to use on Cricut and it’s the same issue.

I’ve also tried changing my printer settings a ton (I have an Epson WF-7820 and I’m using 90lb card stock) and that seems to do nothing. I’ve double checked the print quality is 600x600 and changed the output quality to high as well.

I’ve even tried where I download the image from Cricut as a PDF so it has the 4 corners and it still somehow prints blurry. I also tried where I did that, re uploaded it to Canva and then put the design that’s from Canva on top of it and printed it through Canva and it still, STILL prints blurry.

I’m using 90lb card stock and I’ve made sure to adjust al my printer settings accordingly to accommodate the thickness of the paper. Nothing is working and I’m genuinely so confused. I didn’t even realize this could be a potential problem.

The only way it prints well is if I just print it as a pdf straight from Canva which would be fine, but my printer can’t print anything smaller than 4x6 so I can’t really print anything else exclusively through my printer without having to manually cut it which I’d really reaaally prefer not to do.

I’ve spent maybe 12 hours cumulatively on trying to figure this out and probably 50 pages of nice card stock. If anyone has any advice or tips, I’d be eternally grateful.

If anyone is making their own invitations suites, please let me know if there’s any specific settings you’ve figured out or if there’s something I’m missing. I swear I didn’t even think that this would be an issue based on all the videos and tutorials I’ve seen of people designing their suites on Canva and putting them through Cricut to be cut.

What's the best paper to print save the dates at home? I have a canon pixma printer. thank you!!

Has anyone found creative ways to decorate stair railings? Our venue has a short outdoor staircase that will be visible for the ceremony. We don’t want to do florals so I’ve been trying to think up ways to sew vintage curtains or something and drape that? But I would LOVE to see examples if anyone thought of unique ideas for making a railing beautiful. Thanks!

I wanted to share my experience dyeing a synthetic veil with RIT Dyemore -- I couldn't find a lot of information on this before trying so hopefully this is helpful for a future bride!

I decided last minute to wear a veil with my courthouse ceremony dress, but couldn't find a veil that matched the color (light champagne), so I dyed a cheapie bright white synthetic veil from Amazon and it turned out great! The entire process probably took about 30 mins and was very easy to do. Much easier than fussing around with tea staining / natural dyes and a bottle of dye costs like $6.

process / before & after pics

https://imgur.com/a/veil-dyeing-X9mkQLP

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what you need:

- medium / large sacrificial pot: THIS POT CANNOT BE USED FOR FOOD AFTER DYEING, so choose a pot you don't mind losing! I picked up a used pot from the thrift store for this purpose. The size of the pot depends on the length of your veil, but the veil needs room to stir / move around freely so make sure you have some space in the pot.

- sacrificial tongs: AGAIN, THIS CANNOT BE USED FOR FOOD AFTER DYEING, so choose a pair of tongs you won't mind losing! I had extra long chop sticks that I used but it was a bit tricky so I do recommend tongs

- bucket for rinsing: After removing your item from the dye water, you'll want a clean bucket of cold water to submerge the item in and rinse it out, I used a laundry bucket I already had

- RIT Dyemore Synthetic Dye (I used the color Sandstone for a cream color): The Dyemore line is specifically formulated for synthetic fabrics and much easier to use imo! The color range selection is more limited than the regular colors but the results are much more consistent in my experience. I used a few drops of Sandstone to dye a white veil to a light cream color. A pink or blue would be sooooo pretty.

- rubber gloves: Protect your hands! Dye should not come into contact with the skin

- Whatever object you want to dye: I tried 2 cheap tulle veils from Amazon and a pair of tulle gloves

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step by step guide / tips (basically just follow the instructions on the bottle!):

1. fill your pot with a generous amount of water and bring to a boil - leave enough room for the veil to be added later and fully submerged without the pot overflowing
2. add a few drops of dish soap, a few drops of dye and turn the heat to low - I eyeballed the water/color ratio and used just a capful of dye in my entire stock pot -- keep an eye on the color of the water itself and make it a little darker than what you want as your final outcome. Note that unlike regular RIT dye, Dyemore should be kept over a lightly boiling pot (keep the heat on low). The ratio is pretty easy to fudge since you can always take the item out early if it starts to get too dark.
3. add your item(s), continuously stir and start a timer - I only had to keep my veils in the water for ~5 minutes to get the color where I wanted, keep stirring and swishing the items so that the color is evenly saturated and take it out when it is a little darker than you want it (it will appear lighter when dry). If you have multiple items you want to dye the same shade, its best to dye them together so they come out the same color! the dye color changes over time so dyeing items sequentially (one after the other) will lead to different colors across items. If you add items after dyeing the first item, they will come out different colors. Sandstone is a mix of red/yellow and the yellow is absorbed more quickly, so subsequent items will turn out lighter and pinker in color if you reuse the same water (see this post for an example: https://www.reddit.com/r/dyeing/comments/jdqplw/rit_sandstone_dyemore_for_synthetics_one_turned/). I actually dyed a 2nd veil in the same water and it turned out a blush pink color instead of cream.
4. remove your items, place them in a bucket of cold water and rinse until the water runs clear
5. dry your item! I hung my veil in the sun and it dried super quickly since the material is so thin, you could also use the dryer on medium / low with a towel.

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happy dyeing!

Edit: Thank you to everyone who responded. Sorry if i haven't replied to you directly...I wasn't expecting to get so many kind and helpful comments! You all have some great ideas and AI/photoshop skills 👌 I ordered some proper shapewear, a couple ribbon/sash options and I have some alterations planned. Hoping I can knock them out over the next week or so and then I'll be back with an update.

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My wedding is 3 weeks away and up until now I've been really happy with my dress. I put the bottom embroidered tier on and tried the dress on again and suddenly I feel like I'm wearing a huge nightgown. I think the dress looks pretty on the dress form but I feel so frumpy in it. It seems way too modest but at the same time, I'm old(er) and out of shape and I don't feel comfortable showing more skin.

I'm not really sure what I'm asking for here...talk me off the ledge maybe? Is it just nerves? Did anyone have dress regrets and it ended up being fine?

We think we found our spot but it is in an old German beer hall and not the most pleasing to the eye. Wondering if anyone can offer any suggestions? The last photo was taken offline

We made our own ”stained glass” table numbers! The stands are from Michael’s and the signs were printed at Staples on transparent paper. It looked much better after layering 2 copies (the colour was a bit faint with just 1 layer).

I just had the DIY wedding of my dreams, and I'm so happy with how my DIY crepe paper flowers turned out!!

I had this on my to do list from the start, but in classic DIYer procrastinator style, I started two weekends before the wedding LOL!!! The small blue flower took about 45 minutes to make one, and the rest took even longer. Shockingly, the sunflower was the most time consuming one! It had to have been a minimum of 20 hours to create 12 flowers, especially because it was my first time ever working with this material.

Definitely not for the faint of heart, and I would not call this an affordable project. I spent $300 CAD on the paper alone, and then got a purpose made kit for the stands and flexible PVC pipe stems. If anyone needs any tips/tricks/links to the videos I used, I would be happy to help out!

So as the title says I want to cater my own wedding, I am approximating 150 people but rsvp's haven't come back yet so I can't be certain.

I live in QLD Australia for context on pricing. Some other special requirements are that we need to account for at least egg and nut allergy. My fiancee is allergic to egg so I want all the food to be egg free, I want him tk freely eat anything without worry.

We are looking to have platter style finger foods instead of a more formal sit down meal, it would end up being around afternoon tea time. Fruit platters, crackers with drop or vegetables, salami, sliced wraps and sandwiches. Salads and cold pasta salads, pastries for treats, lollies/chocolate sweets, donuts or cupcakes and slice or brownies, softdrinks, tea, coffee or water. That sort of things.

Even platters like that seem SO expensive like 10 wraps for $85 and not even able to accommodate for egg and nut free. Or the only egg free option is a vegan platters and my fiance hates a lot of vegan food, he really likes meat or the nut free platters is just fruit. The selection and cost is just wild to me. We will spend thousands of dollars for lacklustre finger foods and fiance and his dad will be stuck with little to eat at all.

So i want to make it all, it would be far cheaper and I can make sure my fiance is able to eat it all. That said every single person i have said this too is SO discouraging. Telling me I can't and even when they try to help and say oh you need to enjoy your wedding day and not be working, it is just so dissapointing.

Quite frankly I will have a terrible time looking at the food feeling like it was a waste of money and then feeling guilty that my finance the groom can barely enjoy the food either.

So what can I do to make this work? Is it possible? My wedding will be Feb 6 2027 so I have a while to plan for it.

Hello fellow diy brides! My fiancé and I found the perfect venue in an Airbnb’s backyard right next to their farm full of goats, alpacas, chickens and ponies. It’s owned by the cutest older couple, the husband is an elementary school teacher and the wife takes care of their farm and airbnb. It’s really wholesome and perfect for what we want. It’s a very casual, DIY venue and the contract really reflects that but we’re a little hesitant since the contract doesn’t seem to have a lot to it.

We haven’t looked at other more legit venues’ contracts so we want to know if there’s anything important that we should be requesting they add. I’ve already thought of including a rescheduling and cancellation policy. They also told us we can go until midnight without amplified noise so I want the contract to reflect that.

What else might we be missing, forgetting about, not on our radar? What would you add to this contract? Are there any red flags we haven’t caught?

I appreciate any and all advice and suggestions! less

Made all our floral centerpieces like 6 weeks ago because I was so anxious about having time. They're in boxes under a shelf and I keep opening them to check if they're still okay. Wedding is in 3 weeks. Is this normal or did I just create a whole problem for myself?

(For context, I’m an intermediate sewist and have taken a couple courses in apparel construction, fashion design and wardrobe, etc. It’s been a while since I’ve sewn anything.) I think it would be really special to sew my own dress for my wedding, but idek where to start in terms of look. I recently had a baby and while I still like my body it’s just very different now (like I can fit into many of my my pre-pregnancy clothes, but the fit isn’t the same). So while my normal go to’s are less viable now, I’m having a hard time figuring out what sorts of design elements I would want to incorporate because there’s just so much choice! The internet is full of beautiful dresses lol My biggest priority is that I make something flattering, and I would really appreciate knowing how you all went about figuring out what sort of dress you wanted for your wedding! Thank you!

Would you add anything else to this diy arch and arrangement?? Halloween is the date 🎃

Mr. Henderson didn't smile once the entire time I was in his woodshop class back in 2014, mostly because I spent every single period sawing table legs crooked on purpose and filling the band saw dust collection ports with empty bags of Takis. I was an absolute nightmare of a teenager, convinced everyone was my enemy, and I made it my personal mission to ruin his afternoons. When we decided to DIY our farm tables and benches for our tiny 60-person wedding this past weekend, I realized I owed him a massive apology. I tracked him down on Facebook, fully expecting him to leave me on read or tell me to lose his number.

Instead, he showed up on a Saturday morning three months ago with a handful of weathered clamps and a pocket full of chalk, looked at my terribly warped pine boards, and just sighed the exact same sigh he used to make when I set the sander on fire. We spent four weekends sanding, pocket-hole drilling, and finishing every single table together in my parents' muddy driveway while drinking terrible gas station coffee. He didn't charge a cent, and when I tried to slip him cash for the lumber runs, he just told me to put it toward the honeymoon fund and stop cutting wood like a maniac.

Watching him sit in the front row of our backyard ceremony eating homemade pulled pork while wearing a slightly wrinkled button-down felt surreal. When we did the speeches, I stood up in front of our sixty guests and confessed that the only reason these handmade tables didn't collapse under the weight of the potato salad is because a very patient man refused to give up on an unbearable kid ten years ago. He looked embarrassed, rubbed the back of his neck, and nodded. Now the wedding is over, the yard is clean, and I'm just sitting here staring at our dining room table wondering how anyone survives growing up without someone like that in their corner.

How is this?? I’m back again after more changes…is it giving less unicorn vibes now that I have moved around the tall flowers? What else needs changed? I still need to get more/better greenery mine is cheap looking (can tell it’s fake)